Shieldmaiden And Strider
by ShieldmaidenAndStrider
Summary: Eowyn thinks she loves Aragorn. Aragorn sees her as a child. But when he stumbles across a dangerous secret, he must protect her without severing any of his loyalties, and keep up the treacherous gameplay.
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters and/or places  
  
Author's Note: The Shieldmaiden and I are still unsure about how this one will turn out, so we are unsure of the universe: book, movie, or alternate. We will make a note of it as soon as we know.  
  
*****  
  
Aragorn knows how to move without a sound. Not only a Ranger, as a child he had Elves to compete with. On this night, he only wishes to allow his comrades peaceful slumber, which eludes him, as he slips out into the hall. Where he is going he cannot say. After some wandering, he finds himself in the dining hall. He is about to leave, continue his wandering, when a yellow glow attracts his attention.  
  
"My Lady?" asks Aragorn.  
  
"Who is there?" Eowyn demands, hurrying to her feet. She did not hear him, and in the darkness cannot help but be slightly afraid.  
  
"It is only I, Aragorn," he says.  
  
"Oh." Emotions rush through her: anger at being disturbed, welcome for company, curiosity. Love? "Well, my lord, come and sit down. Bring a torch, so as not to trip, and that we might see each other."  
  
Aragorn falters. He does not appreciate, though he recognizes, Eowyn's intentions. His thoughts turn to Arwen, and he is tempted to make some excuse to leave her alone, but then, she is only a child. And it would be a rude thing to do, in the hall of her uncle. Aragorn sits, bringing a torch with him.  
  
"What plagues my lady this night?"  
  
"Naught. I do not sleep often."  
  
Aragorn raises an eyebrow. "Why not?"  
  
"A warrior never knows when he will have the chance." Eowyn hopes to sound more like a warrior and less like a little girl.  
  
"That is why we sleep when we can," Aragorn tells her.  
  
"Well I want not sleep," she replies haughtily.  
  
"Be iest lin." Aragorn realizes that this lady does not know his words and says, "As you wish."  
  
Eowyn is at a loss for words. She is uncomfortable around this man, if only because she thinks herself in love with her. He seems perfectly comfortable around her, perhaps even unaware of her discomfort. What can she say to him? Nothing seems quite appropriate, after she has heard the beauty of Elvish he speaks. She can feel herself perspiring.  
  
It is then that something happens Lady Eowyn could never have predicted. Aragorn reaches across the table, and actually comes into contact with her. His fingertips brush her forehead. Her heart pulses. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. This is not a gesture of lovers, although it may be used that way, Eowyn can tell quite clearly that this is a fatherly gesture.  
  
"We all need our sleep, my lady. I certainly hope you find yours."  
  
Eowyn's anger rises, and she is angry with him at once. How dare he? She is not a child! She will not endure such treatment! Before she can calm herself enough to speak, he is gone, back to his quarters to catch sleep in the sun's first rays.  
  
"Let him have his sleep," she mutters, "but I shall show him that not all of us need it." Anger spurs her on for the moment, giving her the needed energy that she will later find herself faking. As Eowyn cleans her shield, passing the time, her anger cools, and she thinks about Aragorn. Her heart beats rapidly again, and she wonders who this maiden is that has stolen the heart of the future King.  
  
*****  
  
TBC 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: We do not own Lord of the Rings or any characters and/or places thereof.

Author's Note: We have chosen to make this a movie verse story as that just fits better.

Frosta: That is how he sees her, after all. When he refuses to allow her to accompany him on the Paths of the Dead, for example, it is because he sees her not as a woman but as a child.

Salysha: It's really too bad if you don't like present tense, because this is our story and will be written as we choose. When it began I had been on a bit of an Alice Hoffman binge, and as she prefers the present tense so I thought to experiment. To change the tense of the story part-way through would be quite sloppy. As for the accent, my computer can hardly handle type as it is. Accents would just be pushing it. When Shieldmaiden updates, you will have your accents.

Thanks to all our reviewers, it was good to hear from you all!

*****

Aragorn recalls being young and dreaming of being a knight. Or a warrior, either would do. He recalls, in his dreams, rescuing fair maidens--he loved that phrase. From five to fourteen, no matter how dark Estel felt, no matter how rude or ugly a woman might be, he always called her a fair maiden. And in his dreams or childish plays, he always rescued fair maidens--mostly one, a blond woman with clear blue eyes and a radiant smile. She was not unlike the Lady Eowyn, Aragorn realizes, watching the young shieldmaiden. Arwen comes to his mind first, however, and the saddle-sore "knight" jumps to the ground.

Eowyn, noting this, drops back in what she considers to be a casual manner. "Is something amiss, my lord?" she asks.

"No," Aragorn replies, biting back a sigh. He sees a part of Eowyn's motivation, of what makes her act as she does. He knows that she is a woman in a man's world, and knows that she tries to be what she cannot. Aragorn she sees as an example of manhood, and he knows this. It is not difficult, as a mortal and having been raised in an Elven society, to identify with her insecurities. However, Aragorn worries that there might be something stirring in her young heart, an attraction that she does not understand.

Surprised that he does not feel the need to justify his actions, Eowyn wonders at his confidence. She notices the pendant around his neck and asks, "Where is she? The woman who gave you that jewel."

Hoping to quiet the lady--"fair maiden"--he knows that he must respond, but is pained by the thought of his lady, of his Arwen--and of the fate she did not choose but even at his biding would not deny. He hates thinking of the love lost between him and Elrond, and another day he remembers: the day , long ago, when Celebrían became more than a name, but was a treaty. But his meditations are interrupted by a waiting face, and at length he says, "She is sailing to the Undying Lands, with all that is left of her kin."

Eowyn is taken aback, and thinks for a moment that he has set his sights too high by loving an Elf, but then she thinks of herself. Is she not loving a King, that of one of the greatest realms of the world of Men? If he sets his sights too high, does not she? Lady Eowyn is disturbed to realize that if she so hopes to judge Lord Aragorn, she must judge herself in the same.

*****

TBC

A note from Strider: This one took a while. Terribly sorry; I wrote this bit of a chapter during History and lost the paper, but couldn't bring myself to write it over again. Then I found the paper and, in a word, viola! Next chapter will be longer and better done** (longer, maybe)**, because Shieldmaiden is going to write it or I'll have to call her up every day like when she wasn't writing her novel and prod her with a sharp pointed stick. No comments. And don't glare, Eowyn, you know it's true. **(glares - get your sharp pointed stick away from me... that sounds wrong...) **_I believe I said no comments…? I'd further the insult, but our readers might not appreciate the knowledge._

Eowyn is my beta reader, you see. Her comments are the ones in bold. I left them in because I found them amusing. My responses are in italics.


End file.
